There has been a lot of posturing over the impact of the new federal health care legislation. The immediate changes are beginning to take shape, and it is good news for health care consumers.
Take the MCPS insurance plan for example. As a result of the federal health care legislation passed this spring, there will be a number of significant changes to the MCPS plan, effective January 1, 2011. The same is true for almost all Americans with health insurance. Within MCPS the changes include:
* expansion of coverage to overage dependents
* elimination of co-pays on preventative health care
* lowering of out-of-pocket expenses for mental health care
* elimination of lifetime caps on coverage
Overage Dependents - Young adults up to age 26 will now be eligible to remain on their parents MCPS family insurance plan - for medical and prescription drug coverage. The usual MCPS open enrollment season (when you can make any plan changes) is scheduled for October 11 - November 12. If you have overaged dependents who you wish to enroll back onto your plan, you will be able to do so during the open enrollment period, for coverage effective 1/1/11.
Preventive Health Care - In order to increase access to preventive care, the new federal health care legislation requires the elimination of co-pays on a wide range of preventive services when they are provided by in-network providers. (Co-pays for out-of-network providers remain unchanged). MCPS has already posted a list of the preventive services that will now be provided without copayments.
Mental Health Care - Plans - like MCPS' - will no longer be able to charge higher co-pays for mental health visits than they do for other medical office visits. Under the current MCPS plans, many employees have to pay 50% of the charges for mental health care visits. As of January 1st, co-pays for visits to in-network mental health providers will be limited to $10 per visit in the Point-of-Service plans and $5 per visit in the HMOs. The co-pays for out-of-network providers, under the Point-of-Service plans will improve as well. After satisfying your deductible, such charges will be treated under the same 80%/20% split as other out-of-network medical office visits.
Lifetime Maximum Coverage - Though most folks don't realize it, the current MCPS health plan - like most plans - puts a limit on the maximum amount of coverage you can receive through the plan in your lifetime. The MCPS cap has been $2 million. Just last week there was interesting news coverage of individuals with chronic illnesses requiring very expensive, ongoing treatments, who faced having to change jobs in order to maintain health insurance coverage and not 'max-out' under their employer's plan. Effective 1/1/11, federal law prohibits such lifetime caps, so the cap in MCPS will be eliminated as well. No one ever forsees needing that kind of ongoing, expensive health care. But it is reassuring to know that you wont' risk 'maxing-out' your health coverage if you or a family member face such a situation.
More details on the plan changes will be provided in the MCPS Open Enrollment materials that will be available in the next couple of weeks.
At a time when most Americans are suffering financially, it is a welcome sign of hope that health insurance protection for everyone is improving in concrete, measurable ways.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Teacher merit pay fails test
This just in from non-other than the Washington Post Education Report:
A study released Tuesday found that offering teachers annual bonuses of up to $15,000 had no effect on student test scores - a result likely to inflame debate about performance pay programs sprouting in D.C. schools and many others nationwide. The study suggests that teachers already were working so hard that the lure of extra money failed to induce them to intensify their effort or change methods of instruction. The experiment, in Nashville public schools, calls into question a key aspect of market-driven initiatives to improve schools that have become the vogue in some education circles. "Pay reform is often thought to be a magic bullet," said Matthew Springer, a Vanderbilt University education professor who led the study. "That doesn't appear to be the case here. We need to develop more thoughtful and comprehensive ways of thinking about compensation. But at the same time, we're not even sure whether incentive pay is an effective strategy for improving the system itself."
» Read full article
A study released Tuesday found that offering teachers annual bonuses of up to $15,000 had no effect on student test scores - a result likely to inflame debate about performance pay programs sprouting in D.C. schools and many others nationwide. The study suggests that teachers already were working so hard that the lure of extra money failed to induce them to intensify their effort or change methods of instruction. The experiment, in Nashville public schools, calls into question a key aspect of market-driven initiatives to improve schools that have become the vogue in some education circles. "Pay reform is often thought to be a magic bullet," said Matthew Springer, a Vanderbilt University education professor who led the study. "That doesn't appear to be the case here. We need to develop more thoughtful and comprehensive ways of thinking about compensation. But at the same time, we're not even sure whether incentive pay is an effective strategy for improving the system itself."
» Read full article
Monday, September 20, 2010
A Chance to Learn from Rhee's Mistakes
Congratulations to Mark Simon, former president of MCEA and founder of the Mooney Institute for Teacher and Union Leadership, for publication of the following op-ed column in yesterday's Washington Post:
A chance to learn from Rhee's mistakes
By Mark Simon
Washington Post
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Post editors and reporters appear to have latched on to every possible explanation for the public's rejection of Mayor Adrian Fenty. Racial politics this week. Fenty's personality. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's failure to communicate.
But Fenty's defeat isn't about race or personality. It's about bad decisions, particularly on school reform. His school reform strategies, as shoved through by Rhee, alienated the voters.
Rhee certainly rates as smart, charismatic and bold. But she made decisions early in her tenure that alienated every constituency she needed, and she rested her "reforms" on strategies that national education researchers have repeatedly warned against.
Over the course of her tenure, Rhee:
-- Over-emphasized standardized student testing and scores as the be-all and end-all of school and teacher quality. (See the Economic Policy Institute's Aug. 27 report "Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers.")
-- Failed to understand the importance of community and relationships, and marginalized dedicated and knowledgeable parent and community advocates.
-- Created churn in the workforce, with widespread teacher and principal firings, in the process instilling a culture of fear.
-- Rushed to install teacher evaluation rubrics, under her IMPACT program, that devalue teacher professionalism instead of emphasizing teacher and principal training and curriculum development.
These missteps reflected conscious decisions, not oversights. One example: Early on, Rhee rejected a staff recommendation to bring in the consultants used in Montgomery and Fairfax counties to train administrators and teachers in effective teaching practices. The reason given: Taking the route Montgomery and Fairfax followed would cost too much and take too long.
Schools are communities. Education is a complex, labor-intensive endeavor. Good teaching must be nurtured systematically. Parents understand these realities, which is one big reason they're instinctively wary of any test-and-punish approach. Under Rhee, the public senses that a profound disrespect of educators and the craft of teaching has permeated the D.C. system.
A responsible newspaper would have treated Rhee's reform strategies as controversial ideas worthy of debate. Instead, The Post seems to have taken the posture that anyone against Rhee's reforms must be for the DCPS status quo.
That simply is not the case. Rhee's critics have included veteran reformers who have studied the research and have good reason to warn that she was taking reform down the wrong path.
Vincent C. Gray, who after winning Tuesday's primary is the presumptive mayor-elect, needs to be resolute about improving teacher quality and holding schools and teachers accountable. But he also needs to take a hard look at the controversial strategies that Rhee has pursued. National experts shut out by the Rhee administration can help fine-tune more effective approaches.
And if Michelle Rhee is truly in it "for the kids," she'll muster up some humility, acknowledge her mistaken decisions and stick around long enough to transition to more experienced leadership.
The writer, a member of Teachers and Parents for Real Education Reform, is a DCPS parent, an education policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute and a former president of the Montgomery County teachers union.
A chance to learn from Rhee's mistakes
By Mark Simon
Washington Post
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Post editors and reporters appear to have latched on to every possible explanation for the public's rejection of Mayor Adrian Fenty. Racial politics this week. Fenty's personality. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's failure to communicate.
But Fenty's defeat isn't about race or personality. It's about bad decisions, particularly on school reform. His school reform strategies, as shoved through by Rhee, alienated the voters.
Rhee certainly rates as smart, charismatic and bold. But she made decisions early in her tenure that alienated every constituency she needed, and she rested her "reforms" on strategies that national education researchers have repeatedly warned against.
Over the course of her tenure, Rhee:
-- Over-emphasized standardized student testing and scores as the be-all and end-all of school and teacher quality. (See the Economic Policy Institute's Aug. 27 report "Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers.")
-- Failed to understand the importance of community and relationships, and marginalized dedicated and knowledgeable parent and community advocates.
-- Created churn in the workforce, with widespread teacher and principal firings, in the process instilling a culture of fear.
-- Rushed to install teacher evaluation rubrics, under her IMPACT program, that devalue teacher professionalism instead of emphasizing teacher and principal training and curriculum development.
These missteps reflected conscious decisions, not oversights. One example: Early on, Rhee rejected a staff recommendation to bring in the consultants used in Montgomery and Fairfax counties to train administrators and teachers in effective teaching practices. The reason given: Taking the route Montgomery and Fairfax followed would cost too much and take too long.
Schools are communities. Education is a complex, labor-intensive endeavor. Good teaching must be nurtured systematically. Parents understand these realities, which is one big reason they're instinctively wary of any test-and-punish approach. Under Rhee, the public senses that a profound disrespect of educators and the craft of teaching has permeated the D.C. system.
A responsible newspaper would have treated Rhee's reform strategies as controversial ideas worthy of debate. Instead, The Post seems to have taken the posture that anyone against Rhee's reforms must be for the DCPS status quo.
That simply is not the case. Rhee's critics have included veteran reformers who have studied the research and have good reason to warn that she was taking reform down the wrong path.
Vincent C. Gray, who after winning Tuesday's primary is the presumptive mayor-elect, needs to be resolute about improving teacher quality and holding schools and teachers accountable. But he also needs to take a hard look at the controversial strategies that Rhee has pursued. National experts shut out by the Rhee administration can help fine-tune more effective approaches.
And if Michelle Rhee is truly in it "for the kids," she'll muster up some humility, acknowledge her mistaken decisions and stick around long enough to transition to more experienced leadership.
The writer, a member of Teachers and Parents for Real Education Reform, is a DCPS parent, an education policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute and a former president of the Montgomery County teachers union.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
FAIR Grades Education Coverage
Ever wonder why the mainstream media often seems to be little more than cheerleaders for top-down education "reform" and teacher-bashing? Check out this new alert from the folks at Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting for a critical analysis of the media's coverage of public education today.
Another school year is beginning, and corporate media are ramping up their attacks on teachers and their praise for corporate-friendly education "reform." FAIR's on the case with special coverage on CounterSpin and in Extra!.
Time magazine's current cover story (9/20/10) sounds all the usual notes: the corporate-style "reform" movement is a bold attempt to run schools "according to what actually works;" the White House's Race for the Top grants are an attempt to get states to "rationalize their systems," the KIPP charter schools are "an alternate universe where things worked the way they should" and Barack Obama "is standing up to his party's most dysfunctional long-term romantic interest, the teachers' unions."
The September issue of Extra! documents how these and many other favorite media truisms about education reform deserve far greater scrutiny. The special education issue features articles on teacher-bashing, the Obama administration's "Race to the Top," media darling and D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, and interviews with author Jonathan Kozol and journalist Barbara Miner. Follow this link to read more--or to subscribe to Extra! today, with the education special as your first issue: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4
Grading teachers based on their students' scores on standardized tests is a popular obsession with so-called education reformers, White House policy makers and journalists. The Los Angeles Times even published test-based rankings of 6,000 primary school teachers recently, sparking demonstrations. What you wouldn't know from most media accounts of this controversial policy is that many critics think the focus on testing actually undermines student learning.
CounterSpin talked about the fetishization of testing with education researcher Diane Ravitch, a contributor to a new report on teacher ratings from the Economic Policy Institute, and the author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Follow this link to listen: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4152
The Morning After
Yesterday's primary elections yielded more than the usual number of surprises, and the Monday morning quarterbacking has already begun. One interesting analysis on the Maryland Politics Watch blog, points out the following:
Early Morning Analysis: Winners and Losers
Our early morning winners and losers analysis. It's a rough cut but here you go:
Winners:
1. Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA)
Love them or hate them, MCEA did well tonight in key races. Former President Bonnie Cullison is headed for a second place finish in District 19's delegate race. Teacher Eric Luedtke is winning the third delegate seat in District 14 even though he was not on the slate, he was outspent, and two of his mail pieces were sent to the wrong district!
MCEA appears to be getting wins in other races in which they invested resources, including Craig Rice's big win in District 1 over former Planning Board Chair Royce Hanson and Sharon Dooley. Equally interesting, Hans Riemer won and Duchy Trachtenberg lost in the at-large contest. Sen. Nancy King is currently leading Del. Saqib Ali, though that contest remains close with all ballots not yet counted. Rona Kramer similarly trails Karen Montgomery by an even smaller margin......
Losers:
1. The Washington Post
The grand dame and maker and sinker of political reputations with a single editorial just didn't have the mojo this year. Leaving aside the failure of their numerous editorials to carry Adrian Fenty back to office on the other side of Western Ave., they didn't do too well in Montgomery either....
At the end of the day, it is the voters who decide elections. There are a lot of signs in yesterday's election returns that are encouraging for public education and educators in Montgomery County.
Voters ovewhelmingly supported the incumbent members of the Board of Education: a undeniable vote of confidence in our schools. Given that the current Board has strongly supported a collaborative approach to labor-management relations, voters clearly seem to be saying that they prefer it when the adults involved in public education work together to improve our schools, rather than fighting amongst themselves. As the Board begins its search for a new superintendent, this should signal support for a new superintendent who will carry on their vision of collaborative labor-management relations.
The victories of both Bonnie Cullison and Eric Luedtke in their delegate races also evidences the confidence voters have in our schools and our teachers. Both Bonnie and Eric are members of the MCEA Board of Directors. They have spent their careers advocating for greater public investment in education and greater support for our educators and students. The voters in Districts 19 and 14 chose them both - out of long lists of candidates; clearly indicating that they want elected officials who will be strong supporters of our schools.
Marc Elrich - another former teacher and MCEA activist - emerged at the top of the pack of the candidates in the County Council At-Large race. Marc's committment to the needs of our low-income and minority students is beyond question, and he is making a mark for himself as one of the smartest and most thoughtful elected officials in the county today. And in a hard fought race for State Senate in District 39, voters chose to re-elect Nancy King - a former member of the Montgomery County Board of Education - who is an influential advocate for our schools as Chair of the Senate Education Subcommittee.
Click here for the full election results.
In race after race, Montgomery County voters chose candidates who are strong advocates for public schools; demonstrating once again that ours is a county that wants our elected leaders to make our schools the best that they can be. As teachers, we are humbled by that support, and will do all we can to continue to improve the quality of teaching and learning in our schools.
Tom Israel, MCEA Executive Director.
Early Morning Analysis: Winners and Losers
Our early morning winners and losers analysis. It's a rough cut but here you go:
Winners:
1. Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA)
Love them or hate them, MCEA did well tonight in key races. Former President Bonnie Cullison is headed for a second place finish in District 19's delegate race. Teacher Eric Luedtke is winning the third delegate seat in District 14 even though he was not on the slate, he was outspent, and two of his mail pieces were sent to the wrong district!
MCEA appears to be getting wins in other races in which they invested resources, including Craig Rice's big win in District 1 over former Planning Board Chair Royce Hanson and Sharon Dooley. Equally interesting, Hans Riemer won and Duchy Trachtenberg lost in the at-large contest. Sen. Nancy King is currently leading Del. Saqib Ali, though that contest remains close with all ballots not yet counted. Rona Kramer similarly trails Karen Montgomery by an even smaller margin......
Losers:
1. The Washington Post
The grand dame and maker and sinker of political reputations with a single editorial just didn't have the mojo this year. Leaving aside the failure of their numerous editorials to carry Adrian Fenty back to office on the other side of Western Ave., they didn't do too well in Montgomery either....
At the end of the day, it is the voters who decide elections. There are a lot of signs in yesterday's election returns that are encouraging for public education and educators in Montgomery County.
Voters ovewhelmingly supported the incumbent members of the Board of Education: a undeniable vote of confidence in our schools. Given that the current Board has strongly supported a collaborative approach to labor-management relations, voters clearly seem to be saying that they prefer it when the adults involved in public education work together to improve our schools, rather than fighting amongst themselves. As the Board begins its search for a new superintendent, this should signal support for a new superintendent who will carry on their vision of collaborative labor-management relations.
The victories of both Bonnie Cullison and Eric Luedtke in their delegate races also evidences the confidence voters have in our schools and our teachers. Both Bonnie and Eric are members of the MCEA Board of Directors. They have spent their careers advocating for greater public investment in education and greater support for our educators and students. The voters in Districts 19 and 14 chose them both - out of long lists of candidates; clearly indicating that they want elected officials who will be strong supporters of our schools.
Marc Elrich - another former teacher and MCEA activist - emerged at the top of the pack of the candidates in the County Council At-Large race. Marc's committment to the needs of our low-income and minority students is beyond question, and he is making a mark for himself as one of the smartest and most thoughtful elected officials in the county today. And in a hard fought race for State Senate in District 39, voters chose to re-elect Nancy King - a former member of the Montgomery County Board of Education - who is an influential advocate for our schools as Chair of the Senate Education Subcommittee.
Click here for the full election results.
In race after race, Montgomery County voters chose candidates who are strong advocates for public schools; demonstrating once again that ours is a county that wants our elected leaders to make our schools the best that they can be. As teachers, we are humbled by that support, and will do all we can to continue to improve the quality of teaching and learning in our schools.
Tom Israel, MCEA Executive Director.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Leading Educational Testing Experts Caution Against Heavy Reliance on the Use of Test Scores in Teacher Evaluation
Click here to read the Report.
Friday, September 03, 2010
MCPS Superintendent Questions State Plans on Teacher Evaluation
State Superintendent of Schools, Nancy Grasmick, has submitted proposed regulations to the state Board of Education to mandate a radical redesign of teacher evaluation systems across the state. But the proposal is controversial.
MCPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jerry Weast has submitted testimony to the State Board of Education that raises serious questions about the State's plans to link teacher evaluations to student test scores. Some key excerpts are:
"We believe that these regulations could negatively impact MCPS' very successful Teacher Professional Growth System (TPGS), which has been widely hailed as a national model...."
"We understand that the Maryland School Assessment (MSA) outcomes would be a significant component, which causes serious concern. The MSA is not vertically equated across grades, which means it is not designed to show a student's progress from one grade to the next...."
"The findings from a federally-funded study published in July 2010 showed a 26 percent error rate when student test scores are used to determine teacher performance. This means that one quarter of the teachers can be inappropriately identified as either low or high performing; and one quarter of the teachers who are either low or high performing can be overlooked..."
"Requiring at least 50 percent of every teacher's evaluation to be dependent on student growth does not take into consideration positions such as elementary art, music and physical education and a variety of elective courses in secondary schools for which it will be challenging to develop baseline data and growth measures...."
"We believe that that these proposed regulations will result in a return to a "checklist" evaluation system..."
"We do not believe that trying to implement an evaluation system across the state with the guidelines outlined in the proposed regulations will result in improving teaching and learning in Maryland. The proposed evaluation system will not provide the information that is needed to help teachers and administrators improve...."
The question is: is anybody willing to listen? Do the people leading this charge at the Maryland State Department of Education have their minds made up, or re they willing to recognize the real, practical problems being raised by local school administrators who actually do the work of evaluating teachers? Will our political leaders - in the General Assembly and in the Governor's mansion - weigh in to restore a little sanity, or will they stay quiet to avoid the controversy?
Tom Israel, MCEA Executive Director
MCPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jerry Weast has submitted testimony to the State Board of Education that raises serious questions about the State's plans to link teacher evaluations to student test scores. Some key excerpts are:
"We believe that these regulations could negatively impact MCPS' very successful Teacher Professional Growth System (TPGS), which has been widely hailed as a national model...."
"We understand that the Maryland School Assessment (MSA) outcomes would be a significant component, which causes serious concern. The MSA is not vertically equated across grades, which means it is not designed to show a student's progress from one grade to the next...."
"The findings from a federally-funded study published in July 2010 showed a 26 percent error rate when student test scores are used to determine teacher performance. This means that one quarter of the teachers can be inappropriately identified as either low or high performing; and one quarter of the teachers who are either low or high performing can be overlooked..."
"Requiring at least 50 percent of every teacher's evaluation to be dependent on student growth does not take into consideration positions such as elementary art, music and physical education and a variety of elective courses in secondary schools for which it will be challenging to develop baseline data and growth measures...."
"We believe that that these proposed regulations will result in a return to a "checklist" evaluation system..."
"We do not believe that trying to implement an evaluation system across the state with the guidelines outlined in the proposed regulations will result in improving teaching and learning in Maryland. The proposed evaluation system will not provide the information that is needed to help teachers and administrators improve...."
The question is: is anybody willing to listen? Do the people leading this charge at the Maryland State Department of Education have their minds made up, or re they willing to recognize the real, practical problems being raised by local school administrators who actually do the work of evaluating teachers? Will our political leaders - in the General Assembly and in the Governor's mansion - weigh in to restore a little sanity, or will they stay quiet to avoid the controversy?
Tom Israel, MCEA Executive Director
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